x
So, I made a humble little plan.
“No backlogs. No regrets. And maybe… just maybe… one conversation with Seren.”156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpmeYMQhhId
Lofty goals, right? Hahaha.
Step 1: Actually listen in class.
(Spoiler: Failed within the first 20 minutes. Blame the fan sound and my daily existential crisis.)
Step 2: Join TechnicalHub sessions regularly.
Outcome: Mixed results. Most days I showed up, not for marks or future tech jobs, but because hope is a powerful drug.
Step 3: Learn on my own.
Because I know one thing — if I really want to… then I can too.
Step 4: Use anything thrown my way just to talk to her.
Selfish? Maybe. But when did feelings ever care about logic?
Amid all this planning, labs began.
Labs are weird. It's like cooking. Too much waiting, everyone pretending they know what they’re doing, and one wrong move… poof — chaos.
And so, I set another goal:156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWRQZ7iskjO
Learn C. Not because I had to…156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYtJ0vUcujy
But because I wanted to.
To be better.156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHFWppCDYSA
To maybe help her with something someday.156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKMALNi9mKs
To maybe find a reason to talk.
Then came the WhatsApp group.
A few of us made it to ask doubts, share PDFs, or post occasional memes.156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSwnVcuP6Tp
And I? I became The Shadow.
I started replying to doubts. Not because I wanted attention. Not to be the smartest kid in the room. But because…156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWTmxjTUTic
If I just stayed quiet, binge-watched anime, and slept all day…156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRW6CSKIn6j
She wasn’t going to magically walk over and talk to me.
I wasn’t good at face-to-face.156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5avTB6iH9w
But texts? Texts felt safer.156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1MIuCVcKGQ
So, like my favorite character from Eminence in Shadow, I stayed hidden.156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ2Go3hZhKg
My phone which is empty for the first time it's becoming lively.156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLZQdXH0JQV
Replying to doubts in a flash. Quick. Clean. No name. Just help.156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3DABKTqBM4
Soon enough, people began asking me privately,156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSiNts3YvjA
“Who are you?”156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡygisojH1qU
But not her.
She never messaged.
Still, I stayed active in the group.156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1T57ZIFkz2
Hopeful? Maybe.156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC5WOqPcOuy
Desperate? Nah.156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT92QLYRxhF
Romantic? Probably.156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLzUWViLXYf
Delusional? 100%.
Time passed.156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmL1MO8OIzy
Some started competing with me. Posting answers faster. Explaining better.
Part of me was relieved.
Maybe now I can chill… just wait until she messages...
And then, one random night — it happened.
She texted. In the group.
(Don’t ask how I know that it was her. Talent. Pure talent.)
I didn’t even think. Just replied instantly.156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxxmbYZvqQA
But in my rush, I made mistakes in the solution…
And that led to her texting me. Privately.
I didn’t expect it. Couldn’t have planned it.
And so, I calmly — very calmly — clarified her doubt.156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBq8jbU3NqY
She thanked me. I thought, that’s it. It’s over. Back to shadows.
But she texted again:156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAumGkYe76A
“Do you know me?”
I grinned. “Maybe,” I replied,156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVwLJrqvlZp
…knowing exactly who she was.
Of course I did.
Her name was Alice.156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8H20aYkSIG
But for me, she’ll always be Seren.
We talked. She reminded me of our earlier conversation — back when she was in IT.156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEUOXC1EWEP
And I replied:156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOHxTZNSD2P
“Ohh! Alice? Is this you?”
That opened the door.
We went from talking about college…156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUFKlRmySa9
to anime…156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhiqXO2k5c3
to life.
When I get excited, I forget everything else.156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoBxdGWPfDV
The world disappears. The fan stops spinning.156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMnVG31Xb7q
It’s just words. Her texts. My heartbeat.
At one point, we talked about how people call anime “just cartoons.”156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdUIGyQdBMj
And she said:
“I feel you, bro.”
I don’t know what it meant exactly…156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4l3BQS8tz2
But at that moment, I didn’t feel invisible.
Now the real question is:
Did I tell her how I feel?156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGXwJXMYdMG
Did I explain my intentions?156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH2SX8bieOM
Or did I continue the act… play along…
Let’s just say:156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGA7d4FPhI8
We’ll find out if this Fool’s decision… was truly foolish.
